HetaQuest
by Chibi Iggy
Summary: Italy's been sent to an alternate world. What will happen when he meets his double, Feliciano, who has been killed and wants Italy to take his place at an important meeting? Based off the game HetaQuest. DISCONTINUED.
1. Chapter 1

Ok, I know I should be working on my other fic, but when I noticed there wasn't one for HetaQuest here (or at least not one that I could find) I couldn't help myself! I know I'm writing the first part a little out of order, but this seemed like a good way to start this. And I may alter the wording of some of the things they say if I think it'll make something sound a bit better, but I probably won't do that too often. Anyway, please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, HetaQuest, or any of these characters.

* * *

Near the town of Lytia was a forest, filled with many large trees and several grassy clearings. Most days one could not find people in these woods, but today was different. Today a young man passed through the forest. He was about 20 years old (though you wouldn't guess it from his goofy expression) with amber eyes and brown hair. Sticking out of his hair was a single, gravity-defying curl. He wore a black shirt with blue on the sides and a tan cloak.

"Lud's gonna be so surprised." he said to himself, smiling. "I never show up early." It was true. He was always scolded for sleeping in and keeping his friend waiting. He continued on his stroll towards the town, proud of himself for waking up when he was supposed to that morning. It was a beautiful day, too. The sun was shining and the temperature was perfect.

He didn't understand what happened next. A dark figure, a sudden pain on his right cheek. Before he could figure out what was going on, he ran. If there was one thing he was good at, it was running. He dodged around the trees, trying to get away from whatever had attacked him. He noticed that his cheek was bleeding, but he couldn't worry about that now. He just had to get away.

To his despair, he found himself at a dead end in a clearing. With no place to go, he faced his attacker. It was a humanoid creature with a hooded black cloak and glowing red eyes.

"D-don't eat me!" he cried desperately "I don't taste good!" The thing merely snarled at him. Suddenly, a girl walked up behind the monster. She had light, platinum blonde hair with a white bow in it and dark blue eyes. She had on a blue dress with a wide skirt and a blue bow around the collar. She seemed to be fairly young, maybe 19, but her eyes were cold. "What are you going to do to me?" he asked the girl, trying not to let his voice shake.

She smiled. "Something very simple."

"That monster..." he said, thinking of the large number of monsters that had appeared lately."Who are you? Do you have anything to do with the monsters?"

"Why do you want to know that?" she asked, looking slightly confused. "It's pointless, because you are going to die here." Chills ran down his spine. For a moment he wondered how she could look so expressionless while saying that. But then she smiled a little. "Kill him."

Pain. The monster had lashed out, creating a large, bleeding wound from his left shoulder to his right hip. He took a shaky step back before falling onto the grass. The girl began to speak again. "Now you can no longer go to the meeting in Saia. I won't let anyone get in my way."

"...I knew it..." He said weakly. "So that's what you wanted..." He could feel himself slipping away, the world around him growing cold. "Lud... I'm... sorry..."

Just as everything started to fade, he heard her voice one last time. "...Since you are going to die, I will tell you. I am Natalya. Can you still hear me?" By the time she finished this last sentence, everything had gone black.

* * *

"I can't find it." America sighed, closing his eyes. This was the eleventh place they had looked, and he was getting tired.

Italy felt the same way. "'The atmosphere that can be read.' Where could it be?" They had searched the entire library already, and found nothing.

"We've looked everywhere and we still couldn't find it. It must be a legendary book..." the blonde nation said. "But no matter how difficult it is, I won't give up! After all, I'm a hero!" Italy smiled. No, they couldn't stop looking now, not after all their hard work. They both turned when they heard the library door open. A person had walked in, wearing all white. A hood covered a lot of their face, so it was hard to tell what they looked like, but they could make out short blonde hair and one of their expressionless eyes. The person, who on closer inspection appeared to be female, came up to America.

"What are you looking for?" she asked him. Italy came over to her from his bookshelf.

"We're looking for the legendary atmosphere that can be read!" he said, happy that the woman seemed to want to help.

"The legendary atmosphere that can be read...?" she repeated. "Maybe it's _this_." She pulled out an ancient-looking brown book with no title on the cover.

The two nations were shocked. "Really?" America asked excitedly.

"You can keep it if you want. I don't need it." the woman told them, still lacking any facial expressions whatsoever.

Italy could hardly contain his excitement. "Grazie! How about we have some tea next time we meet?"

"I look forward to it." Having said this, she walked back out the door, leaving the men with the book.

America grinned. "The atmosphere that can be read! We've finally found it!" He was lucky the librarian wasn't around, or he would have been quickly thrown out for yelling like he did. "Anyway, it looks really fancy. Look at these gems on the cover." As he has said, there were five round gems: white, black, green, blue, and red. "And it doesn't have a title or the author's name. How weird."

"Maybe because it's a legendary book, and not just an ordinary one?" Italy suggested. "Anyway, let's read it!" America was confused at first when he opened the book (since it was printed Japanese style) but soon was open to the table of contents.

"It looks like it's divided into three chapters." he said. "Chapter One: Feliciano..." he read.

"Chapter Two: Alfred..." continued America. There was a flash of light.

"Wh-what?" Italy cried. Something felt strange. There was another flash, and he was gone.

"Italy!" called America, already too late to do anything. "Shit, what's going on?" There was another flash, and he was gone, too, leaving the library empty.

* * *

Chapter One: Feliciano

Italy awakened in a place filled with trees. He slowly stood up, taking in his surroundings. He was in a clearing, tall grass all around him. "…hmm…" he groaned, then he turned around and quietly said "…where am I?" He looked like he was about to cry (which wasn't uncommon for him) He looked around, just noticing that somebody was missing. "Americaaaaaaaa! Where are yooou?" He heard something rustling ahead of him. "A-America?" he asked hopefully.

Instead of America, Italy was greeted by a growling, wolf-like creature. "Veeeeeeeeeeeeee!" he screamed as it pounced at him. He pulled out one of his trusty white flags and started franticly beating at the thing. It seemed to decide it didn't like being smacked, so it ran off.

Italy was panting, though out of exhaustion, fear, or both he didn't know. "Wh-what the hell was thaaaaat?" Italy noticed a small path at the edge of the clearing, so he figured he should try heading that way.

"What just happened?" he asked himself as he walked down the path. "This is like one of those games from Japan's house… Is this some kind of alternate world?" he wondered. Then a terrible thought struck him. "Will I ever be able to make it back to my world?" The tears that had started to form in the corners of his eyes started gushing out. "Veeeeeee! I'm so scared! What if a strange monster or ghost appears?" His tears slowed a little. "Oh, but it's the middle of the day, so there won't be any ghosts!" He reassured himself.

He continued on the path until he came across another clearing, where he saw another young man with a tan cloak. This wouldn't be that strange, except you could see right through him. "Gh-gh… GHOOOOST!" Italy screamed, turning to run.

The ghost turned towards him and cried "W-wait! Don't run away!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! There really _are_ ghosts in the middle of the day! Please, don't curse meeeeee!"

"Just listen to me! I won't do anything to you!" Italy hesitated.

"…really?" he questioned.

"Yep." Italy wasn't sure why he decided to trust the boy. Maybe it was his sincere smile, or the fact that they're appearances and voices were strangely similar. They even had the same stray curl of hair.

The ghost smiled when Italy walked towards him. "Looks like _you_ can see me." He said, sounding relieved. "I'm Feliciano. You?"

"I'm Italy… a silly boy who loves pizza and pasta." said Italy, still a bit freaked out. [What should I do?] he thought. [I don't usually talk to ghosts…]

"Oh, I love pasta, too. I think we'll get along really well." Feliciano said, as if this was all it took to like somebody. "We kind of look alike, too. It's like we're the same person."

[He doesn't seem to be a bad guy.] "Yeah~ maybe you're a dopplegänger?" Italy suggested. [Wait, don't people die if they meet one of those? Well, never mind. I'll just ask about more important things now...] he decided. "By the way, why are you see-through?"

Feliciano closed his eyes. "To tell the truth, I just died…"

"Whaaaaaaaaat?" Italy didn't know what to do. He had never met a dead person before. "Wh-what happened?" he finally asked.

Feliciano told him about his walk to Lytia and how he got attacked by a monster and some girl named Natalya. When he woke up, he was dead.

"So, what happened to your body?" asked Italy.

"It looks like they took it away." he sighed (if a ghost can sigh)

"Why are you still here, then? Maybe you're still attached to something in this world…?"

Feliciano's eyes closed again. "Look over here." he told him, pointing to the ground to the side of him. Italy saw something shiny there and walked over. He reached down and picked up a pendant with a small white stone on it. Feliciano smiled. "That pendant is _very _important to me! Right before I lost consciousness, I dropped it, and I was _so _worried…"

"You're still here because you're attached to the pendant…" Italy whispered, stating the obvious.

"Well, that's not the only thing I'm attached to, though." he said, though he didn't explain further. "Anyway, I'm glad you're here! I was worried someone who can't see me would take it away."

"That's pendant is really important to you, isn't it?"

"Yeah. It has an heirloom, and it's an important stock-in-trade." Feliciano explained.

Italy stopped for a minute, not knowing what else to say. He finally asked, "What are you going to do from now on?"

"Actually, there are a lot of things I have to do…" He looked a bit worried now. Suddenly a thought made its way into his head, and he smiled. "Italy, I have a favor to ask of you!"

"What is it all of a sudden?" Italy had a feeling he wouldn't like where this was going.

"I want you to pose as me for a while!"

"Pose as you? What exactly would I have to do?"

"A friend of mine is going to meet with the patriarch of the village of Saia." Feliciano explained quickly, exited about his new idea. "I was supposed to be a mediator in that meeting, but…since I'm like this…" his smile faded for a second but soon returned at full force "I want you to go in my place!"

"What? I can't! That sounds too difficult!" yelled the Italian, completely shocked.

"There's a little ritual you have to do, but it's very simple!" said the dead man, trying to convince him.

"But your friend will see right through it!" There was no way this could work. No way at all.

"It's okay! We look identical. I think our personalities are pretty similar, too." He did have a point, but… "Besides, I'll go with you and give you advice! I'll tell you everything you need to know." When Italy looked doubtful, Feliciano started crying (ghosts can do that?) "Please! You're the only one I can ask!"

Italy sighed. There really wasn't any way he could say no, "Alright! I'll try. I don't know how far I can go, though."

"Thank you!" Feliciano yelled happily. "Now, first you need to go to a village east of here. That's where my friend is." After saying this, the ghost vanished, but Italy could tell he was still there. [What did I get myself into?] he wondered. [Oh well. Better get going.] So he headed out of the forest, all the while wondering what the rest of this world was like and what Feliciano's friend would be like.

* * *

Edit: I had to upload this again since I forgot an impotant page break and had Feliciano going to Ramneyg instead of Lytia. Whoops ^^; Anyway, I think I fixed everything.

Okay, so there you have it! Thank you to SotetAG for the translations. We all appreciate your work. Anyways, if you like this, review. If you don't, still review and tell me how I could make it better. Like many other people, reviews are my fuel! If people like it I'll keep updating, though I'm not sure how often. That's limited by my amount of free time (school just started a few weeks ago) and when new parts get subbed. Plus I'm working on another fic, too, so... Well, I hope you enjoyed this! Bye~


	2. Chapter 2

I was going to wait a bit longer to write this, but one of my friends seemed to really like it, so that was my motivation. Thanks, Megan! And so I bring you the next chapter. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I don't own HetaQuest, Hetalia, or any of the characters (it makes me sad every time I have to write this…)

* * *

After a short walk, Italy found his way out of the forest. He stepped out onto the open plain in front of him, almost blinded by how bright it was now that there were no trees to filter the sunlight. "The town was east of here, right?"

"That's right," Feliciano replied. "But some strange monsters have started appearing lately, so be careful." Italy seemed a bit confused, so Feliciano explained further. "They're usually big and look like mixes of different animals. They're called 'chimeras' but only a few people call them that! Most people just call them 'monsters'. They didn't exist before though…" He trailed off.

"Do you know why they started appearing?" Italy asked him.

"They first appeared around the imperial capital. I know they started spreading to the east..." he paused for a moment. "But I don't know where exactly they came from. But after what happened to me, I know that that woman called Natalya, who led those monsters, has something to do with them!" He smiled, proud of his discovery."

Italy nodded. "So what kind of animals do you normally have here, then?" He figured this would be something good to know while he was in this world. He didn't want to be caught off-guard by the mention of a creature he'd never heard of.

"Well..." Feliciano looked thoughtful. "There are some wolves, and sometimes flying dragons, I guess? If you go closer to the mountains, you might see some phoenixes!" He said this as if it was all perfectly normal (and around here it was), but Italy had to struggle to hide his shock.

"Er... Oh, I see..." he managed to say. [Those strange creatures are normal? I don't see how they're any different from the monsters!] Italy figured this would be a good time to change the subject. "By the way, that friend of yours, what's he like? Tell me about some of his traits."

Feliciano grinned. "His name is Ludwig. I call him Lud. He's tough and buff, but he's a really nice guy!" He seemed really happy to be talking about this friend of his.

"I see~" Italy wondered why that sounded familiar, but then it clicked. [He kind of sounds like Germany...] He started to wonder if what Germany was doing. Had he noticed that Italy was missing, or did he think he was just goofing off somewhere? His thoughts were interrupted by his ghostly friend.

"It's dangerous here, too, so we'd better go to the town quickly."

"Yeah." Italy smiled and headed towards the town, and he was amazed at how close it was to the forest. [So Feliciano died when he was almost here. That's really terrible...] he thought. The place was fairly small and filled with simple houses and stone pathways. Standing on one of these paths was a man with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was wearing mostly black, but he also had a green cape draped over his shoulders. "Th-that person over there..." he whispered to himself in shock.

When he saw Italy, the man ran up to him. "Where have you been?" he yelled. Italy freaked out. What was Germany doing here? It couldn't be him, but...

"Italy, this is Lud!" Oh, so it wasn't Germany after all. "He's really buff, so be careful!"

"Feliciano! Are you listening to me?"

He had to say something, anything. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry I went to the forest alone!" Okay, that works.

Ludwig sighed. "Honestly, you... Hm? Hey, what happened to your clothes?" Uh oh. He had completely forgotten he was wearing a military uniform from a different world.

"Er...Tell him a good excuse!" Feliciano told him.

[Right, an excuse. Um...] "Sir, I fell over spectacularly and had to buy new clothes, sir!" [Will he really buy that? My clothes are completely different...]

Ludwig seemed to be concerned. "You're not hurt, are you?" Italy had no idea what to say. "...Make sure you're more careful in the future!"

"S-sir, yes, sir!" He mentally cursed himself for saluting (an old habit from when he was being trained by Germany) but that must have been the same thing Feliciano would do, because Ludwig didn't seem to think it was abnormal. He thought he even saw a slight smile. [He's kinda nice...]

"You were gone for too long. Now it will be dark by the time we get to the forest. We have no choice but to spend the night here. Is that clear?"

"Sir, understood, sir!"

"There are things we need to get ready during the time we have left... I'll leave the money for the trip in your care," he decided. "But don't spend it on unnecessary things." He handed Italy a handful of gold coins.

Italy decided to wander around Lytia and talk to its residents. He walked inside one of the nearest houses (where he was scolded for coming in without asking first) and got some pasta from a nice lady who lived there. He also "borrowed" a little bit of money from a chest in the bedroom.

After he had finished his chatting and shopping, Italy headed over to the inn where he and Ludwig would be staying. "I'll ask the villagers a little more about the forest." Ludwig said. "I want you to stay in the room and watch over our belongings. Don't go anywhere on your own!"

"Sir, understood, sir!" Italy watched as he left the inn, and then entered the small room. Once he sat down at the table in the corner, Feliciano made himself visible again and sat at the chair opposite him. "Phew, I can finally come out," he said as he plopped himself down in the wooden chair.

"That's pretty handy. Appearing and disappearing like that, I mean." Italy thought aloud.

"I was worried people would be able to see me if I was out." Yes, that would cause problems. It's not every day you see somebody being followed by a floating dead double of themselves.

"It looks like Ger- I mean, Lud," Italy corrected himself, "didn't suspect anything at all." Italy smiled, amazed that this plan was working. "I was surprised by how identical Lud is to a friend of mine! They even talk the same way!"

"Really? Maybe it's because we're similar, so our friends are also similar?" Feliciano wondered. He paused for a moment before he spoke again. "By the way, I was so caught up with asking you to take my place that I don't know anything about you."

"I don't know much about you, either," Italy pointed out. "I wonder why I didn't ask any questions while we were coming here."

"It's not too late to do it now! Oh, where are you from?" he asked. "I'm from Spina! Are you from Ramneyg, by any chance?"

"Er... no."

"From Avenir, then? Though it's quite far away from here." How was Italy supposed to explain that this wasn't his world, so he'd never even _heard_ of these places? [I might as well just tell him the truth...]

"I don't think you'll believe me, but I'm not actually from this world." When Feliciano didn't respond, he added, "I wound up in this world after I opened a book I got from someone... I really want to go back to my world as soon as possible." Feliciano still said nothing. [He must be thinking I'm a weirdo!]

Then Feliciano grinned. "Awesome! This is the first time I've met someone from another world!"

"You believe me?"

"A long time ago, we used to mingle with people from another world," he explained. "I'm so happy! I've always wanted to meet someone from another world!"

"Don't you know how to go from one world to the other?" Italy asked, more hopeful than he should be. "I want to back to my world as soon as I finish doing what you asked me to..."

The look on Feliciano's face made Italy's hopes fall strait down the toilet (Were there even toilets in this world? Probably not. This place seemed pretty medieval...) "I'm sorry, that was a long time ago; I don't know any more than that."

"...I'll never be able to go back?" Italy was on the verge of tears at this point. He couldn't be stuck here forever, right?

"Maybe if you ask the patriarch of Saia tomorrow, he'll tell you more? I heard he knows a lot!" Feliciano suggested, trying to cheer up the Italian.

Italy's face lifted a bit. "Really?"

"I'll help you get back to your world, too!"

"Grazie, Feliciano!"

After this, Feliciano decided he should teach Italy this world's geography. Italy had always been good at geography back home, like most nations. But trying to learn this stuff when you don't have people to relate to different places was harder than he thought. That town was on this continent, this place was ruled by that empire. He couldn't remember any of it. Finally he told Feliciano that there was really no point in continuing the lesson. Then Feliciano vanished as he heard Ludwig enter the building again.

"It seems that it really is too dangerous to go to the forest right now." Ludwig told him. "There aren't only wild animals, but also chimeras."

"They were outside of the village, too, weren't they?" Italy asked, though it wasn't really much of a question. He had seen them on his way here.

"Damn. Then it's true that they're coming to the outskirts of Lytia."

"I wonder what they're after..."

"All we know is that they clearly aren't natural," Ludwig said. "I hope we can get Saia's cooperation..." He trailed off, not wanting to consider the possibility of Saia refusing to help.

"I wonder what the patriarch is like," Italy said absent mindedly. "I hope he's a nice guy."

"I wonder."

"We're going to spend the night here, aren't we?" asked Italy, feeling tired all of a sudden.

"Yes. We're going to get up early tomorrow. Make sure you get plenty of rest today." Ludwig told him.

"Va bene!" It wasn't long before Italy was curled up in his bed, fast asleep.

* * *

And there it is! Now Ludwig's made his entrance into the story. And a random note about that toilet line: I seriously didn't even know I typed that until I read this again later. Oh, the things I type when I stop paying attention...

And a special thanks to The Singing Maiden. I actually started writing this after I read your RomaHeta fic (Or at least tried to. I get interrupted every time I start the 4th chapter. I really wish I had my own computer so I didn't have to get off when my mom or brother needs it...) And yes, if for some reason it doesn't get an ending, I'll come up with one.

Well, it may be a while before I update again. I need to work on my other fic, after all. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Please take two seconds to click the review button. Reviewers get hugs!


	3. Chapter 3

Oh yeah! Updated two fics today! Sure, it's just because my friend went to the zoo today and I was bored, but whatever. Anyways, this chapter is a bit short and uneventful. But it's still important and needs to be added. So please enjoy.

* * *

Italy yawned and stretched in his bed. As he rubbed his eyes, he noticed that Ludwig was already up, and probably had been for a while. Yet another thing he had in common with Germany. After he got himself up, the two headed out of the town and towards the forest. There were a few monsters on the way, but nothing too dangerous.

Once they had made it to the trees, Ludwig took a few steps forward and looked around, seeming worried by something. "Lud? What's wrong?" Italy asked him.

"Don't you think it's odd?" he asked as Italy walked toward him.

"Huh, what is?"

"Even though this is such a rich forest, there is no sign of spirits."

"You're right." he said, hiding his confusion. [I don't know anything about signs of spirits!] he thought.

"Perhaps the original master of this forest is gone." Ludwig said, not realizing that Italy wasn't following what he was saying. "I have no idea what might come up. Let's proceed with caution."

Italy nodded. "Yeah." The forest was pretty quiet. They came across a few bat-like creatures and really big spiders and bees, but for the most part everything was calm. And when they did meet these things, they were never much of a challenge to get rid of.

As they walked, Italy couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right. He just figured he was imagining things, though, so he ignored it. Ludwig turned to Italy. "We're almost out of the forest," he told him.

"Yay! Now we can say goodbye to the monsters!"

"I didn't expect to find monsters this far into the forest. Saia might not be safe either." Just then, a strange noise came from the nearby trees. Italy and Ludwig jumped back. Something spoke in an odd voice.

"...THE STONE... Give me the stone..." Italy started crying. "There's something there!" he yelled.

"Shit, it's huge! Get ready, Feliciano!" A huge, white snake slithered towards them, and on its sides were two large wings. It must have been another chimera, but this one was much bigger than the others they had seen so far.

It went after Italy first. He tried to dodge, but still ended up with a scratch on his shoulder. Ludwig got out his whip and lashed it around the creature's neck. It pulled away until it was free, knocking Ludwig off balance in the process. Italy saw it prepare to strike and started madly whacking it with his white flag (which was still his only weapon) When it noticed him, it got ready to attack its new target. Just before it got to him, though, Ludwig ran up and gave it a powerful blow to the side of the head, nearly crushing its skull. Deciding that it couldn't take another blow like that, it slithered back to the trees and left them there.

"That's one seemed kind of different from those we saw before." Italy said when he was sure the thing was gone.

"It was telling us to give it the stone."

"What stone was it talking about?" he wondered. Ludwig was quiet for a long time, thinking about something.

"If it's the same stone I'm thinking of, we'd better hurry up. This is more serious than I thought." Italy decided not to ask what he was talking about and just silently followed him out of the forest.

* * *

Such a short chapter... I didn't know what to do for the fight since SotetAG didn't translate it, so I just sort of made it up. Anyways, the next one should be longer. I hope you liked it, and reviewers get pasta from Ita-chan and Feli ^^


	4. Chapter 4

Finally got around to updating! Sorry for the long wait...

I really wish I owned Hetalia, but sadly I don't.

* * *

It wasn't long before Italy and Ludwig reached Saia. It was a beautiful place that had small houses and a stone path running through the town, and to the north was a large building: the patriarch's house. It had a golden roof, pure white walls, and many detailed pillars and windows.

They entered the house to find three people standing around a table in the back. Ludwig stepped forward. "I am Ludwig, the envoy from Ramneyg. Is the patriarch here?"

The one in the middle, a young girl whose brown hair was decorated with a pink flower, said "My name is Xiao Mei. These two," she gestured to the boys on either side of her, "are my elder brother Tao and my younger brother Yong Soo. I'm sorry, but the patriarch is not home at the moment."

Italy stared at the siblings. [I've seen these three somewhere before...] he thought.

Ludwig seemed annoyed. "Even though you supposedly informed him that an envoy was coming beforehand?" he asked Xiao Mei.

She nodded. "He was informed repeatedly, but he had some urgent business to attend to..."

"We just came all the way here through the forest. I wish he would show me some courtesy as well."

"Lud!" Italy stepped forward and faced him. "I don't like the way you're acting." Ludwig glanced at him.

"...Is that so? But it's only natural."

"You're being too intimidating! You're scaring them!" Italy told him, his expression serious for once. "Honestly..." He sighed and turned back to the others. "I'm sorry, Xiao Mei. He isn't a bad guy, really."

"No, we are the ones in the wrong..." the girl said.

"Where did the patriarch go?"

This time is was Tao who spoke up. "The patriarch, Wang Yao, went to the mountains in the south."

"And Kiku went with him!" Yong Soo added with a smile, unlike Tao, who spoke without much emotion.

"Kiku?" Ludwig asked.

"He's our brother," Xiao Mei explained. "He's the oldest one."

Italy was a bit confused. "What were your brother and the patriarch going to do in the mountains?"

Xiao Mei looked down. "Some monsters have started appearing around here lately, and they attacked the phoenixes in the southern mountains..."

"Phoenixes are precious creatures," Tao continued. "Wang Yao and Kiku went to exterminate those monsters." Yong Soo looked up with a worried look.

"Actually, they should have already been back by now, but they're not..."

"We're very worried, but I don't think we're strong enough to make it to where they are..." Xiao Mei said, still looking at the ground.

"Besides," Yong Soo turned around to look at something on the table behind him. "It's our duty to protect the Red Jewel..." When Italy looked, he saw that there was a shining red stone resting on a pillow.

"Wow, so pretty!" he exclaimed.

Tao nodded. "This jewel is very important to us," he said.

"The Red Jewel is one of the five Gems that were destroyed by the Hero." Xiao Mei added.

"Is this the real thing?" Ludwig asked in a slightly quieter voice than usual.

Italy was extremely confused by all this. [Feliciano! They've started talking about a hero and other stuff I don't know about!]

"Er, it's a very old legend," Feliciano told him. "Everybody in this world knows about the Hero and the Gems." Feliciano told the short version of the story: there were five Gems (red, white, black, blue, and green) used by God the make the world. People wanted these Gems for power and fought over the mines constantly. So the Hero, a man from Spina, and his five companions destroyed all but the harmless White Gem, or Memory Stone. "Remember my pendant had a white stone? That's a Memory Stone."

[Maybe the monster we ran into in the forest was after this stone?] Italy wondered.

"Maybe... The Memory Stone in my pendant is special and has similar properties to the White Jewel."

[How can there be any Jewels if the Gems were destroyed?]

Feliciano continued his story and explained that the most powerful Gems were made into the Jewels by the Hero's companions just in case they were needed, and then towns were made to protect each Jewel. "All this time, the people of Saia have been protecting the Red Jewel entrusted to their ancestors by the Hero."

Italy, deciding that he more or less understood, remembered what had been going on and had an idea. "What if we go after the patriarch and your brother in your stead?" he offered.

"W-we couldn't possibly impose on you for something like that!" Xiao Mei said. "I mean, this is a family matter..."

Ludwig seemed to agree with Italy and said, "No, if you say they are taking too long to come home, maybe something happened."

"Can we ask you this favor?" Tao asked them. Italy grinned at him and said happily, "Sure, you can count on us! We just came out of a forest full of monsters!"

"Thank you!" Yong Soo said with his big smile back on his face. Ludwig warned them about the large monster from the forest that wanted the stone, then the two left the house. Italy took one look back, and he still couldn't shake the feeling that he had met those three before.

Outside, Italy found a chest with a flag in it. [This looks like Japan's flag.] he thought. He looked down at the tattered white flag he had been using to defend himself. [I do need a new one...] So he decided to take the new flag as his weapon.

The two stopped by the shops, where Ludwig found a new whip that was covered in thorns (who knew they even made something like that?), and Italy got them both new shields. They also grabbed a few healing items before leaving.

Before they headed to the mountains, Italy decided to make a quick stop to the library, where a woman decided to go on and on about thaumaturgy (Saia's name for magic). She told him all about the different elements (fire, water, wind, ice, earth, light, and dark) as well as healing magic. She also mentioned that most people with "the gift" are in Saia, Elgnand, or Avenir.

Italy, who didn't really understand all this, thanked her for her explanations and exited the library.

He also visited the hot spring, where he bought some milk that he was told was from a place called Aricema. [There are so many different places in this world.] he thought. [It's so confusing. How am I ever going to remember all of this?]

At last, Italy and Ludwig left Saia and were on their way to help Wang Yao and Kiku.

* * *

Okay, if you haven't seen the videos for this game, I should point out that Xiao Mei is Taiwan, Tao is Hong Kong, and the Hero is Ancient Rome. And if you haven't caught on with the names of the towns, most of them are country or continent names with the letters out of order, and some are words in other languages. These are the ones mentioned so far:

Lytia- Italy

Ramneyg- Germany

Saia- Asia

Spina- Spain

Elgnand- England

Aricema- America

Avenir- French for "future"

SotetAG is officially on hiatus, so after the next chapter I won't be able to update for a while. Not that I update very quickly, anyways ^^;

Italy and Feli still have pasta for reviewers!


	5. Chapter 5

I'm sorry to say this, but I'm discontinuing HetaQuest. Writing it doesn't interest me any more. And I also want to work on my other stories. So goodbye, HetaQuest readers. I'm glad you liked what I wrote, but I won't be writing this one any more.

~Chibi Iggy


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